Systems and methods of initial onboarding and steering for wi-fi devices

Abstract

A first device connected in a wireless local area network (WLAN) may include one or more processors. The one or more processors may be configured to associate with a first access point. The one or more processors may be configured to wirelessly receive, via a transceiver from a second device, a first frame. The one or more processors may be configured to wirelessly receive, via the first access point, a second frame. The one or more processors may be configured to compare an identifier indicated in the first frame with an identifier indicated in the second frame. The one or more processors may be configured to determine, based at least on a result of the comparing, whether the first device continues to associate with the first access point or associates with a software-enabled access point (soft-AP) configured in the second device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A first device connected in a wireless local area network (WLAN), comprising:
 one or more processors configured to:
 associate with a first access point; 
 wirelessly receive, via a transceiver from a second device, a first frame; 
 wirelessly receive, via the first access point, a second frame; 
 compare an identifier indicated in the first frame with an identifier indicated in the second frame; and 
 determine, based at least on a result of the comparing, whether the first device continues to associate with the first access point or associates with a software-enabled access point (soft-AP) configured in the second device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The first device according to  claim 1 , wherein the first frame is one of a beacon frame, a probe response frame, or a fast initial link setup (FILS) discovery frame. 
     
     
         3 . The first device according to  claim 1 , wherein the second frame is a domain name system (DNS) frame or a multicast domain name system (mDNS) frame. 
     
     
         4 . The first device according to  claim 1 , wherein each of the identifier indicated in the first frame and the identifier indicated in the second frame is a basic service set identifier (BSSID). 
     
     
         5 . The first device according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 determine whether a first field of the first frame is set to a first value indicating the soft-AP; and   in response to determining that the first field of the first frame is set to the first value, disassociate from the first access point and associate with the soft-AP.   
     
     
         6 . The first device according to  claim 5 , wherein the first field of the first frame includes one of a vendor specific information element (VSIE), a short service set identifier (SSSID), or an organizationally unique identifier (OUI). 
     
     
         7 . The first device according to  claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 determine whether a second field of the first frame is set to a second value indicating that the second device includes multiple radios; and   in response to determining that: (1) the first field of the first frame is set to the first value and (2) the second field of the first frame is set to the second value, disassociate from the first access point and associate with the soft-AP.   
     
     
         8 . The first device according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 in response to determining that the first device associates with the soft-AP, add the identifier indicated in the first frame to a soft-AP list.   
     
     
         9 . The first device according to  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
 wirelessly receive, via the first access point, a third frame;   determine whether an identifier indicated in the third frame is present in the soft-AP list; and   in response to determining that the identifier indicated in the third frame is present in the soft-AP list, disassociate from the first access point and associate with the soft-AP.   
     
     
         10 . The first device according to  claim 9 , wherein
 in response to determining that the identifier indicated in the third frame is not present in the soft-AP list, the one or more processors are further configured to:   wirelessly receive, from the second device, a fourth frame;   determine whether a field of the fourth frame is set to a particular value indicating the soft-AP;   in response to determining that the field of the fourth frame is set to the particular value, compare an identifier indicated in the fourth frame with an identifier indicated in the third frame; and   in response to determining that the identifier indicated in the fourth fame matches the identifier indicated in the third frame, add the identifier indicated in the third frame to the soft-AP list.   
     
     
         11 . A method comprising:
 associating, by a first device connected in a wireless local area network (WLAN), with a first access point;   wirelessly receiving, by the first device via a transceiver from a second device, a first frame;   wirelessly receiving, by the first device via the first access point, a second frame;   comparing, by the first device, an identifier indicated in the first frame with an identifier indicated in the second frame; and   determining, by the first device based at least on a result of the comparing, whether the first device continues to associate with the first access point or associates with a software-enabled access point (soft-AP) configured in the second device.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the first frame is one of a beacon frame, a probe response frame, or a fast initial link setup (FILS) discovery frame. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the second frame is a domain name system (DNS) frame or a multicast domain name system (mDNS) frame. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein each of the identifier indicated in the first frame and the identifier indicated in the second frame is a basic service set identifier (BSSID). 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining whether a first field of the first frame is set to a first value indicating the soft-AP; and   in response to determining that the first field of the first frame is set to the first value, disassociating from the first access point and associating with the soft-AP.   
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the first field of the first frame includes one of a vendor specific information element (VSIE), a short service set identifier (SSSID), or an organizationally unique identifier (OUI). 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 15 , further comprising:
 determining whether a second field of the first frame is set to a second value indicating that the second device includes multiple radios; and   in response to determining that: (1) the first field of the first frame is set to the first value and (2) the second field of the first frame is set to the second value, disassociating from the first access point and associating with the soft-AP.   
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the first device associates with the soft-AP, adding the identifier indicated in the first frame to a soft-AP list.   
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising:
 wirelessly receiving, via the first access point, a third frame;   determining whether an identifier indicated in the third frame is present in the soft-AP list; and   in response to determining that the identifier indicated in the third frame is present in the soft-AP list, disassociating from the first access point and associating with the soft-AP.   
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 19 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the identifier indicated in the third frame is not present in the soft-AP list,   wirelessly receiving, from the second device, a fourth frame;   determining whether a field of the fourth frame is set to a particular value indicating the soft-AP;   in response to determining that the field of the fourth frame is set to the particular value, comparing an identifier indicated in the fourth frame with an identifier indicated in the third frame; and   in response to determining that the identifier indicated in the fourth fame matches the identifier indicated in the third frame, adding the identifier indicated in the third frame to the soft-AP list.